Gas turbine engines include multiple components, a portion of which are formed as sheet structures. These sheet structures are currently hot or cold formed using dies. The dies include a relatively durable material that is capable of withstanding the temperature, pressure, and other loads applied to the die via the selected forming operation. The material used in the dies may be relatively expensive. Furthermore, formation of dies is a relatively time-consuming and expensive process. The time and expense of forming the dies increases as the complexity, such as complex contours and size, of the desired part increases.
In various applications, the sheet structure is utilized in situations with relatively harsh thermal environments. In such environments, inclusion of cooling features in the sheet structure is desirable. Conventional investment casting processes for creating such intra-wall cooling passages may not be consistent with a size and shape of a desired sheet structure, hence, an alternative process for creating such cooling passages is desirable.